|
Upcoming Events
Feb 8, 2012:
Understanding Hormonal Therapies; Teleconference; 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm EST; Minetta C. Liu, MD.
More Information
Feb 8, 2012:
Latest Developments Reported at the 34th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; teleconference; 1:30 - 2:30 pm EST; from CancerCare.org
More Information
Feb 24-26, 2012:
C4YW/Annual Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer; Hyatt Regency, New Orleans, LA.
More information
March 1-3, 2012
5th Evidence-based Complementary/Alternative Cancer Therapies Conference; Annie Appleseed Project;
Embassy Suites Hotel, 1601 Belvedere Rd., West Palm Beach, FL.
More Information
Mar 31-Apr 4, 2012:
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting; McCormick Center, Chicago, IL.
More Information
|
Just added to the In Our Own Words page is Sarah Zander's IBC story.
Sarah walks us through the emotions, fears, realities and annoyances of her IBC experience perfectly. AND she manages to educate about the steps and missteps of diagnosis, stages of treatments, side effects, the fear of recurrence and the aftermath of it all.
Take a few minutes and read this one, you may find that you want to share it with your family and friends.
|
Did You Know?
The mission of the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation (ibcRF) is to assist scientists and researchers in their quest to determine the definitive causes of inflammatory breast cancer. The Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation seeks to assist them in their work so effective and meaningful detection and diagnosis, prevention and treatment can be pursued and achieved.
|
Annual Report 2011
The following items are part of the 2011 Annual Report of the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Read the complete report.
Through collaboration once again with the Milburn Foundation the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation was able to award two research grants in 2011.
Heather Cunliffe, PhD of Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, AZ , received a grant of $50,000 to pursue work on the molecular underpinnings of triple negative inflammatory breast cancer. A second $50,000 grant was awarded to Dr. Beth Overmoyer of Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, to pursue her research project, "Validation of Jak2 as Novel Therapeutic Target in Triple Negative Inflammatory Breast Cancer."
Diane Palmieri, PhD and Bryan P. Schneider, MD, grant recipients in 2009, have been submitting reports of their work. As soon as data is available for publication we'll be sharing that information. Robert Schneider, PhD, continues his pre-clinical work, funded by a grant in 2010. His project should move forward to clinical trial in the near future. More about grants awarded.
The Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation BioBank and Clinical Data Base continues to grow, and
awareness of this valuable resource is also growing in the research community. More samples are necessary for researchers to have adequate tissue for study. For more information contact: biobank@ibcresearch.org or see this page.
Ginny Mason presented a workshop on tissue banking, along with Dr. Sue Clare of Indiana University, at the National Breast Cancer Coalition's spring Advocacy Training Conference. Ginny is also part of the Artemis Project, a multi-disciplinary team exploring the development of a preventive vaccine for breast cancer.
For 12 years now the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation has been an active voice for the
inflammatory breast cancer community. Through the efforts of countless volunteers more and more people know "YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A LUMP TO HAVE BREAST CANCER!" We continue to provide two e-mail discussion lists, a monthly e-newsletter, and personally respond to questions/comments by e-mail and phone, and remain an active presence in the breast cancer community and broader oncology community.
|
New Publication for Patients, Survivors and Families: CANCER TODAY
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the oldest and largest scientific organization dedicated to cancer research. While focusing primarily on basic science research, AACR's mission is "to prevent and cure cancer through research, education, communication, and collaboration." AACR has many programs and publications to assist scientists in learning and sharing information. In addition to the basic science publications they also offer publications directed to the patient and caregiver populations.
In December 2011, AACR launched a new magazine, Cancer Today. This new publication is designed for recently diagnosed cancer patients, long-term survivors, and their families and friends. "Cancer Today offers survivors and their loved ones practical advice for living fuller, healthier lives, along with insightful and reliable reporting on the latest advances and challenges facing cancer research and patient care."
Cancer patients and their caregivers want more information than ever before. Not just the tidbits shared by the popular media but reliable, evidence based information to serve as a guide through the maze of treatment and survivorship.
Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation Executive Director, Ginny Mason, is honored to be among the Editorial Advisers for Cancer Today, joining notable members of the oncology community. AACR has an active Patient Advocate program and a number of individuals associated with the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation have been a part of the Scientist<-->Survivor Program offered through AACR.
Learn more about Cancer Today, access the online edition, or sign up for a subscription. Also look for copies at your oncology office or treatment center.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 34TH ANNUAL SAN ANTONIO BREAST CANCER SYMPOSIUM
by Ginny Mason
 | | Ginny Mason discussing the day's events with Hamouda Boussen, MD, oncologist and friend from Tunisia |
As reported last month, Carol McWilliams and Ginny Mason represented the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation at this symposium. While the focus of the conference is breast cancer there are many different aspects of the disease covered over the course of the five days.
There were no general sessions devoted specifically to IBC this year, just a number of posters. However, the posters are not yet available on-line so in this piece we'll highlight the other parts of the symposium. As soon as the posters can be viewed on-line, a notice will appear in FOCUS and direct you to the IBC specific ones. Webcasts of the daily Poster Discussions are currently available and do include a few of the IBC posters.
The following commentary gives information to help you decide which webcasts may be of interest. In the interest of space the descriptions have been kept brief.The information is given day by day as it is listed on the webcast page under Program Intro.
Educational sessions on Tuesday focused on the Treatment of Metastatic Disease, Mouse Models of PI3K Dependent and Basal-Like BC, New Technologies in Biomarker Discovery, Breast Cancer Trials in Developing Countries, Challenges in the Care of Special Populations with BC, What Makes a Good Target and Reconstruction. Webcasts are available for all these topics on http://www.sabcs.org
Those on endocrine therapy (tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor) might find Wednesday's Plenary Lecture #1 of interest. Dr. Eric Winer of Dana Farber Cancer Institute gave a great presentation on endocrine therapy. The following General Session covered 15 min. presentations on a variety of clinical trials and other treatments. The AACR Distinguished Lectureship in Breast Cancer Research presentation (Protective Adaptive Responses to Breast Cancer Therapies) was fascinating, but very heavy on the science, so be prepared! The Clinical Science Forum and Basic Science Forum were held over lunchtime with the first focusing on the cost of care and the other on breast cancer initiation. Should you be interested in Breast Cancer and the Environment, you'll want to listen to the Special Report. The afternoon General Session #2 covered seven presentations focusing on radiation and Her2. There are two Brinker Award Lectures, one on hormone dependent breast cancer and the other devoted to management of the axilla in breast cancer.
Since the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) became one of the sponsors of the symposium there are more basic science lectures included in the program. Thursday's Plenary Lecture #2 on macrophages falls into that basic science category. General Session #3 is another grouping of 15 min. presentations. Four presentations give results from important clinical trials while others highlight activity in specific pathways. Joe Gray, PhD from Oregon Health & Science University gave the McGuire memorial Lecture and shared his thoughts on Translating genomic insights into improved breast cancer management. Lunchtime offerings were Case Discussion 1 and the Basic Science Forum. The Case Discussions were interesting as the panel addressed real-life patient issues shared by the audience. The first Mini-Symposium of the afternoon explored metastasis theories. Mini-Symposium #2 looked at various aspects of environmental and other exposures and their impact on breast cancer. The final General Session #4 of the day included seven varied presentations examining risk and treatment.
Friday, began with posters, followed by Plenary Lecture #3 on Advances in Axillary Surgery. The following General Session #5 was dedicated to presentations on Her2 topics. Results of the Neo-Sphere, PAM50, CLEOPATRA, S5-6 & S5-7 and TRYPHAENA studies were presented. The CLEOPATRA study, combining pertuzumab, trastuzumab and docetaxel vs. placebo, trastuzumab and docetaxel favored the pertuzumab containing arm and may well be a practice changing trial. S5-6 also combined pertuzumab and trastuzumab. The discussion section at the conclusion of this General Session helps to distill the data into useable information. Another Case Discussion and Basic Science Forum were offered during lunchtime. Even if you aren't typically that interested in the science, you may find the Basic Science Forum sessions of interest as each is presented in an easy to understand format and introduces some new thoughts. The afternoon included Mini-Symposium #3 exploring Metabolomics and Mini-Symposium #4, The Role and Promise of Neoadjuvant Therapy in Breast Cancer. General Session #6 included six miscellaneous presentations with a discussion after the first two.
Bringing the symposium to a close, A Special Report of five lectures on Genome Data for the Masses was the first session on Saturday. While interesting, it was quite intense and clearly for the scientists in the audience! For the past few years the organizers of SABCS have invited leaders in the breast cancer community to present a Year in Review session at the close of the symposium. This has become a highlight for many attendees and touches on important advances of the year, not just the data presented at the conference. The session was broken down into: Advances in basic breast cancer research; Translational breast cancer research; Early breast cancer; and Challenges and success: Treatment of metastatic breast cancer 2011. If you don't take the time to view any other webcast, this one is certainly worth your time.
|
|
Looking for help?
by Susan Niebur
 The following is reprinted with permission from Susan's blog, Toddler Planet, January 13, 2012.
I'm still fighting pneumonia and the associated fatigue, but I received the most beautiful scarf in the mail from the people at L. Erickson's Good Wishes program, which sends a silk scarf or head wrap to anyone losing their hair as a result of illness or treatment. I'm assuming they mean cancer only and not alopecia, but it couldn't hurt to ask! Thank you, Good Wishes!
I've updated a resource page at Mothers With Cancer accordingly - check there if you're helping a cancer patient and looking for resources for cleaning, cooking, hats and scarves, lymphedema sleeves, wigs, makeup, and how to organize to help a friend with cancer. I don't know what I'd have done without my friends this year and in 2007 - consider yourselves hugged!
Mothers With Cancer Help Page.
|
|
IBC Survivor Pam Haschke and Halos of Hope™
by Ginny Mason
 Those of us who've had chemotherapy for the treatment of inflammatory breast cancer likely all wondered how we would cope with the side effect of hair loss. Hair is a defining feature of who we are as individuals. People describe themselves by hair color, its length, curly or straight, and so forth. We spend a lot of time trying to find just the right hair style, shampoo, styling products, and color that we believe enhance how we want others to see us. Daily routines involve significant time getting our hair "just right" and hair salons promise the "perfect cut". With all this attention to hair, how do we cope with chemotherapy associated hair loss? For some the thought is so devastating they consider skipping chemotherapy rather than risk losing their hair. Yet others cope by finding a wig that closely matches their pre-cancer style and color, perhaps exploring scarf and hat options, or even a combination of things.
When Pam Haschke was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer in 2004 she was fortunate to have a strong support system of family and friends. Through her nine months of treatment she was determined to focus on survival rather than the grim statistics she'd read. Fortunately Pam's chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation left her NED (No Evidence of Disease). Pam states, "I didn't consider myself lucky, nor did I bemoan my situation when I was diagnosed. Who I am after the treatment is the same as who I was before, but I'm a lot more appreciative of life and possess a deeper capacity to love and give back to others."
The scalp pain she experienced with the hair loss surprised Pam. She didn't anticipate the hair loss being a 'big deal'. Thanks to the generosity of family and friends she had a variety of hats and scarves to wear during this time. When wearing one of those items Pam could feel the love and caring connected to the head covering. Those feelings sparked an idea that came to fruition when Pam was chosen to attend the Inaugural Lance Armstrong Foundation LIVESTRONG Summit in Austin, TX in 2006. Participants were challenged to find a way to give back to their community and Pam's vision became "Halos of Hope™".
Halos of Hope™ is a non-profit organization that provides hand-made hats to chemotherapy patients. When the organization started they were just providing hats to hospitals and clinics in the Chicago area. As volunteer knitters and crocheters learned about the project, more and more hats became available, allowing Halos of Hope™ to provide hats to chemotherapy patients across the country. The hats are donated but there is cost involved in shipping the hats to the distribution centers, so the organization appreciates donations to help cover those expenses.
Not only is Pam the Founder and President of Halos of Hope™, she has volunteered for the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation (ibcRF) on many occasions. Pam has helped staff the ibcRF exhibit booth during the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting a number of times as well as represented the organization during the Lynn Sage Town Hall Meeting, sponsored by Northwestern University. She also serves as moderator of our Advocacy e-mail discussion list (the A-Team). For a number of years Pam also served as part of the Response Team, responding to questions received via the website. Her ability to communicate in Spanish was helpful and her willingness to volunteer is much appreciated. Pam is not only an IBC sister, she has become a trusted friend.
When I was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer I learned a valuable lesson; I can't control what happens to me, but I can control how I respond. It would appear the same thing can be said for Pam Haschke. It was a shock when she received the diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer but she took that experience and turned it into an opportunity to help others in a creative and very personal way. As I knit or crochet hats to donate to Halos of Hope, I think about my personal experience and try to add as much love and comfort as possible into each stitch. Consider becoming a part of Halos of Hope™ too. More information is available online at: http://www.halosofhope.org.
See and hear a video interview with Pam on FiberStory.TV.
|
|
More from San Antonio
 | | The Riverwalk in San Antonio with holiday lights |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
